Spinning-mule



N.PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. U. C,

UNIE

TES PA orrron.

J. H. BRICKILL, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPINNING-MULE.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, J L@Mns H. BRICKILL, of Taunton, in the county ofBristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Self- Acting Mules for Spinning; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l, is a plan of part of the head of amule having my improvements applied. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal verticalsection of the same in the plane indicated by the line a", m, in Fig. 1.Fig. 3, is a partial vertical section in the plane indicated by the liney, y, in Figs. l and 2, looking in the direction of the arrow g, in Fig.2. Figsfa, 5, 6, and 7, are detail views which will be hereinafterexplained.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severaliigures.

These improvements are applicable more particularly to the self-actingmules for which Letters Patent have been granted to William Mason.

The object of the improvements is to eEect the operations of backing olfand winding on in a more positive manner than is possible in Masonsmule, and thus to obviate the only serious defect in that mule.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed todescribe its construction and operation.

M, M, represents the front portion of the framing of the head of themule.

I, is the winding shaft, occupying the usual position in the mule. Thebearings for the shaft I consist of bushings C, C', which are secured toand project some distance within the sides of the framing M, M. The saidshaft has firmly secured to it, between and near the two bushings, tworatchet wheels F, F, having their teeth set in opposite directions; theformer of said ratchet wheels receiving the motion in the direction ofthe arrows in Figs. 2 and 4, (the latter of which figures exhibits asection of the winding shaft close to said ratchet wheel,) through whichthe shaft is caused to back off; and the other ofsaid ratchet wheelsreceiving the motion in the opposite direction, through which it iscaused to wind on the yarns. The said shaft has also se cured rmly toitsends, outside the framing H, M, two grooved pulleys J, J, which receivethe drum bands and which are used instead of the outside frictionpulleys of Masons mule. Two pulleys are shown, as the drawing issupposed to represent a double mule. A single mule has but one of thesepulleys.

His the winding gear, occupying the usual position in the mule, butinstead of being iitted to the shaft I, it is tted to turn on theexterior of the bushing C.

By the term usual, as employed in this specilication, I mean common toMasons mule, which is in common use in this country and well known.

O, is the winding rack, applied to slide in the usual manner on the mainor bottom rack bar T, and gearing with the gear I-I, by the usual trainof gearing, which it is not necessary to represent or describe. Thewinding rack O has applied to it the usual weight P which serves toreturn it after every winding on operation to the proper position tocommence the repetition of the operation, the said weight beingconnected to said rack by a cord or chain a, running under a pulley A',and over a pulley H. The gear H has a fiange on its inner side, and tothis flange is attached a stud b, on

`which is a pawl E, intended to engage with and give motion to theratchet wheel F. This pawl is caused to engage with the ratchet wheel F,when the winding gear H turns in the direction to wind on the yarn,(via, in the opposite direction to the arrow l0, in Fig. 2) by means ofa clip spring D composed of a single piece or two pieces of spring steelclamped around the bushing C. The point of this spring enters betweentwo small projections on an arm c, which is one piece with the pawl E;and when the gear turns in the direction above specied, the friction ofthe spring upon the bushing causes the said spring to stop the arm c, ofthe pawl when the gear starts, and thus throw the point of the pawl intothe teeth of the ratchet before the spring begins to turn on thebushing. When the gear H' stops winding on, its motion is immediatelyreversed and the friction of the spring on the bushing takes out thepawl from the ratchet wheel.

P', is the rockshaft, arranged near the bottom of the front end of thehead of the mule, and corresponding in its duties with the similarlyarranged rockshaft in Masons mule, and deriving a similar motion throughsimilar connections with a similar arm B', at one end. The arm isrepresented in Fig. l, and in Fig. 2 it is shown in red outline. Thisshaft carries a sector-shaped plate or cam A CZ, the arc of which isconnected by a chain R, with the periphery of a pulley B, which isfitted to turn on the bushing C'. This pulley has a flange to which isattached by a pin ZJ', a pawl E', capable of engaging with thebacking-off lratchet wheel F'. This pawl (shown in Figs. l, 2, and 4) islike that E, attached to the winding-on gear, except that it is extendedbackward from its tooth on the opposite side of the pin b', as shown at7, for the purpose of causing it to be thrown out of gear by striking astationary pin G, attached to the framing. The said pawl E' has appliedto it a clip spring D', (Figs. 1, 2, and 4) like D, said spring beingclamped around the bushing C'. The distance which the arm B', of therockshaft P' moves is shown in Fig. 2, where it is represented at thetwo extremities of its movement. By the movement of said arm to theright, (looking at Fig. 2) the cam A CZ, is caused to wind the chain R,and twin the pulley B, in the direction of the arrow 10, by which meansthe spring D' is caused to throw the pawl E', into gear with the ratchetwheel F', and hence the pawl is made to turn the shaft I, in saiddirection to effect the backing off. Just as the above movement of thearm B', terminates, the part f, of the pawl E', strikes the pin G, andcauses the tooth of the said pawl to be disengaged from the ratchetwheel so as to permit the shaft I, to be turned in the oppositedirection by the pawl E, to effect the winding on of the yarn.

The cam A d, is made in two parts, one part d, constituting the hub anda flange being keyed to the shaft P, and the other part A, whichconstitutes the rim and receives the chain being bolted to the shaft bybolts passing through slots which permits it to be set in or out to orfrom the center of the shaft to allow t-he amount of backing off to beadjusted. The chain R, has in it two connecting rods L, L, on which areright and left-handed screws to which are fitted a swivel nut U, whichprovides for the tightening of the chain. The pulley B has applied to ita spring K, connected by a chain K', by which, when the arm B' of theshaft P' is moved to the left, the pulley B is drawn back to bring itspawl to a position to commence the repetition of the backing off whenthe proper time arrives.

The winding shaft I is furnished with a brake wheel Y, to which isapplied a friction brake X, which is secured to the cross bar M', of theframing. This brake (which is perhaps best shown in Fig. 5, which is asection in a plane parallel with Fig. 2) is composed of a piece ofspring steel, which when left free springs ofiI the wheel Y. Thebrake-wheel and brake occupy a position below the horizontally movingshipper W, which moves on a fixed pin g, to shift the main belt of themule. This shipper is the same as that in Masons mule, but the whole ofit is not shown in the drawing. It has attached to it and below it, justover the-extremity of the brake X, a small block W', to which a toothl1., is jointed by a pin z'. The top of this tooth is so beveled asshown in Fig. 6, which is a section parallel with Fig. 3, and thecorresponding portion of the block W' beveled in a corresponding manner,that when the shipperin its usual movement after the operation ofdriving out the carriage has been performed-passes over toward theratchet wheel F, the tooth becomes rigid with the shipper and pressesthe brake upon the brake wheel as it passes over it; but so that when itmoves in the opposite direction, the tooth swings aside in the mannershown in red outline in Fig. 6, and does not press upon the brake. Theobject of the brake is to stop or at least to reduce very considerablythe momentum of the winding shaft so that the pawl E', in coming intooperation on the ratchet wheel F', may not cause any damage by theviolent shock which might be produced. In Masons mule, it may be stated,it is absolutely necessary that there shall be a certain amount ofmomentum in the winding shaft to bring f the parts of the machinery intoproper condition to commence backing ofi'I but with my method ofeffecting the winding on and backing off, this momentum is notnecessary, but on the contrary very objectionable.

T', is the connecting rod commonly employed to operate the lower rack T,and winding rack O. This rod is the same as is used in Masons mule, andoperated in the same manner by a stud attached to the periphery of alarge gear, which is not shown. When the racks T and O are in their mostforward positions, the weight of the rod T', on the gear has a tendencyto cause it to fall back a little from the position to which it has beencarried to move the racks to the position specified and by that means togive.

productive of great injury to the mule; and

hence I employ to prevent such an occurrence a spring catch N, toreceive the rod T', and support it when it reaches its highest positionwhich it does as the racks reach their most forward position. Fig. 7represents a back view of the spring catch N, and a section of theconnecting rod T', and part of the framing M, which are also shown inFigs. l and 2. The spring catch N is formed with a rounded jog at j(Fig. 7) which receives the edge of the connecting rod, and is strongenough tosupport the weight of said rod, but as soon as power is appliedto move the rod downward, it springs aside and permits the rod to passit.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

l. Arranging the winding gear H, loose on a stationary bushing C, or itsequivalent which surrounds and forms one of the bearings of the windingshaft, and applying a pawl E, attached to said gear, and a spring Dfitted to the bushing, to engage the said gear with a ratchet wheel F,fast on the winding shaft, in the manner described,

whereby the winding shaft and winding gear are permitted to be entirelydisconnected during the operation of backing off.

2. The combination of the adjustable cam A CZ, on the rockshaft P, theloose pulley B working on the stationary bushing C', or its equivalentsurrounding the winding shaft, the pawl E, on said pulley., the clipspring D, on the bushing, and the ratchet wheel F, on the winding shaft;the whole operating together substantially as described. to effect thebacking oiil of the yarns, and in combination with the pawl E', I claimthe pin G, applied as described to disengage said pawl, and permit thereversal of the shaft to wind on the yarns.

3. The combination of the brake-wheel Y, on the winding shaft, the brakeX, and the tooth h, on the belt-shipper, substantially as described, forthe purpose of stopping` or reducing the momentum of the windingshaftprevious to the operation of backing oft".

` JAMES H. BRIGKILL.

Witnesses:

EDMUND H. BENNETT,

Jost-1mi GETLOW.

